


Luxuries

by CourierNinetyTwo



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-05
Updated: 2012-12-05
Packaged: 2017-11-20 08:52:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/583511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourierNinetyTwo/pseuds/CourierNinetyTwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Going to Aria's place complicates more than it explains.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Luxuries

"Is it rude to ask how much this place cost?"

Nyreen took a step forward, letting the door shut behind her. She hadn't expected Aria's apartment to look like the steel cans down in Kima, but it was hard not to be impressed. The entire back wall of the main room was glass, enabling a view over the street leading to Afterlife. Orange and purple light filtered through the window and splashed across the floor, shifting with every movement of the virtual dancer's hips outside.

"I own the whole building, but if you're talking about the furnishings-" Aria's fingers skated over a black marble countertop, over pale flecks in the stone that matched the ones trailing up her nape, "Take whatever number you're thinking. Triple it. That might cover the decoration you see and the security that you don't."

"Spirits."

Nyreen tried to keep her eyes from widening too much. What she didn't say was that the apartment looked untouched. There were no signs of life beyond the backlight of the locked liquor cabinet, displaying the bottles while the soft hum of a hidden freezer kept everything at perfect temperature. Even the couch facing the window looked like it had just been pulled out of the box, except for the two pillows thrown haphazardly into one corner.

A large table with a metal base and a glass top was the only other fixture in the room. Both chairs were made of the same black steel, functional and stylish instead of luxurious. Nyreen walked over to it, expecting to see at least the faint ring from a whiskey glass somewhere. Instead it was perfectly transparent, drawing the light through instead of reflecting.

It shouldn't have taken her so long to realize; anyone wanting to plant a bug or a bomb would have to disturb the almost zen state of the room. Aria had a direct view of everything else, even through the table where she ate. The fact that it left Nyreen feeling a bit cold was unavoidable.

At least, until she felt the matriarch's breath on her nape, the slender fingers that had been exploring the counter pressing against the small of her back.

"We were supposed to make it all the way into the bedroom." Aria whispered. "But I wouldn't be opposed to the table."

Nyreen let out a soft hum of amusement. "You wouldn't want me to scratch the glass."

"It might be worth replacing the table, but the noise-" The matriarch laughed softly. "The point's well taken."

It was easy to relax with Aria's hand working slow circles on her back, to be turned around and follow. Nyreen drew in a deep breath when she passed the threshold into the bedroom; it was easier here. There was the subtle scent of leather, a sense of warmth that hadn't been present before.

Strange how comforting it was to see Aria's bed mussed instead of with hospital corners; it was clear the matriarch slept on the left side. A small set of drawers was on that side too, topped with a datapad and an empty glass. Even the low light couldn't hide the bottle of batarian bourbon pushed back into a corner, half-empty.

Nyreen was caught off-guard at the subtle push; she hit the mattress before she could think to catch herself. It was like everything the matriarch Aria did - calculated. The turian had been in awe of how Aria gauged strength and took advantage, until she realized it was instinct instead of skill. Something predatory in the asari's nature, to divine the weakness in everyone and exploit it. 

It was the same reason why Aria ruled Omega so well; she'd stripped away weakness from herself. Connections. Intimacy.

The matriarch straddling Nyreen's hips, settling on top, broke the train of thought. Her armor was undone by nimble fingers, each catch opened and another layer abandoned on the floor next to the bed. When she was down to the insulated undersuit, Aria sat up, a hint of black briefly flickering through bright blue eyes.

"You like what you see?" Nyreen asked.

Aria's smile was all teeth and restrained lust. "Enough that I almost forgot something."

Nyreen felt the matriarch's hips press down against her own as Aria reached over to the bedside table, pulling the drawer open. There was a soft rattling sound before Aria pulled out a bottle of pills. One blue thumb obscured the front of the label, but Nyreen could see the last name of the prescribing physician - _Solus_.

"How bad's your dextro allergy?" She asked, catching on.

Aria counted out three pills into her palm before swallowing them dry. Nyreen had to give her credit for not pulling a face.

"Not very." The matriarch quietly cleared her throat, dropping the bottle back into the drawer. "But everyone knows what you did last night when there are dark blue splotches all over your hands and face."

"Well, we couldn't have that." Nyreen's mandibles flared, just slightly.

Both hands went to the lapels of Aria's jacket, slowly urging it down the asari's shoulders. There was the subtle cut of commando muscle beneath that brilliant skin; it transitioned to violet in the right light. Her talons traced a random pattern in between the gaps in the leather, searching for the clasp to open the complicated web of straps.

"Middle of my back." Aria said, voice low and warm. "Then at the neck."

Her own fingers were occupied stripping away Nyreen's undersuit, touching every inch of skin that was exposed after each pull. The turian's wiry frame was deceptive; almost all of it was soft, unscarred. That would change, if Nyreen spent enough time on Omega.

She felt Nyreen hesitate at that first touch over the jagged tears curving over her shoulder blade; there wasn't disgust, just surprise.

"Did you think I couldn't be hurt?" Aria whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to one side of Nyreen's throat. "That's courtesy of Patriarch trying to rip out my heart through my back."

The jacket kept it hidden, the moment of weakness concealed. Nyreen's talons drifted to the other side of Aria's back, feeling several lines healed into a strange pattern, nearly imperceptible on the skin. "And this?"

Aria's teeth gently grazed Nyreen's pulse, provoking a shiver. "That's what a good reave does to unarmored flesh."

The turian's mandibles briefly tensed. "You didn't have your barriers up?"

"I invited a very beautiful assassin into my bed once. Drell." Aria's hips shifted impatiently, her hands traveling freely over Nyreen's chest. "She caught me off-guard."

"So now you just sleep with your lieutenants?"

One of Nyreen's hands slipped down between the matriarch's thighs, applying just a bit of pressure with her palm. Aria's answering moan was intoxicating. Enough to be dangerous, if she let herself fall into the sound, the way the asari moved against her.

"It's easier to keep things in-house." Aria said under her breath, pressing her lips against Nyreen's sternum, beneath the thick band of the turian's collar. "But you're the first who's caught my eye in a while."

Nyreen couldn't silence the answering gasp as Aria's mouth kept moving, every little jolt of heat through her skin making it harder to focus on the conversation. That was where she'd get lost; not in the knowledgeable touch, the trappings of power. It was that hint that she was unique, desired, a temptation to someone who had lived a thousand years and experienced things she could never dream of.

Her hand slid from the old scar to gently cup the matriarch's nape. Nyreen closed her eyes.


End file.
